A popular Mexican food is the taco. The taco is made by folding and frying a tortilla in hot oil to form a relatively rigid taco shell. The taco shell is then filled with meat, cheese, vegetables, sauces, etc. according to taste and the availability of ingredients.
Apparatus and methods for manufacturing and/or frying taco shells are disclosed in the following U.S. patents, among others: U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,273 to D. T. Stickle; U.S. Pat. No. 3,928,638 to D. T. Stickle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,154,153 to D. T. Stickle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,043 to D. T. Stickle, deceased, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,275 to J. S. Stickle et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,174 to J. S. Stickle; U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,544 to J. S. Stickle, and U.S. Pat. No. D335,758 to J. S. Stickle. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,785,273, 3,928,638, 4,154,153, 4,160,043, 4,530,275, 5,743,174; 6,073,544 and D335,758 are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
Conventional apparatus and methods for manufacturing and/or frying taco shells (so-called “in-line” production) are optimized for production of taco shells made from corn tortillas. However, increasing popularity of flour tortillas is fueling a demand for taco shells made from flour tortillas. The production of taco shells from flour tortillas in conventional in-line apparatus may be problematic due to the different characteristics of flour tortillas relative to corn tortillas. For example, a special corn flour known as “taco shell #6” corn flour is used to produce taco shells made in-line from corn. Because small, medium and large particles of corn flour are blended to make the taco shell #6 corn flour, the hot corn tortilla coming out of the oven and into the taco fryer will not blister. Flour tortillas have much finer particles, making them very difficult to fry without large blisters occurring. Also, flour tortillas contain gluten whereas corn tortillas are gluten-free. A need therefore exists, for new apparatus and methods for in-line manufacturing and/or frying taco shells, including for manufacturing and/or frying taco shells made from flour tortillas.